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Lyle Kenneth Ellingson

Lyle Kenneth Ellingson died June 8, 2018, at Eventide on Eighth in Moorhead at the age of 76.

Lyle was born in Fargo December 3, 1941, to Kenneth and Clarice (Westrick) Ellingson, and he grew up on the family farm outside Moorhead. After graduating from Moorhead High School Lyle enrolled in ROTC at NDSU, and he was commissioned an Army officer upon graduation.

While he was stationed at Fort Hood in Texas, Lyle met Betty Sullivan, a fellow Army officer serving as a nurse. The two married in 1965 and moved to Moorhead, where they raised two children, Terri and Michael.

Lyle sold insurance for Equitable Life Assurance Company in Fargo, eventually becoming a manager there. Lyle brokered financial services for several companies based on the needs of his clients, primarily small businesses and family farms, and he later switched his primary affiliation to Principal Financial Group. Of all the professional designations he earned Lyle was most proud of becoming a Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), passing every exam on the first attempt early in his career.

Lyle was always active in church and civic organizations, including Kiwanis (where he served as president and a top seller of Pancake Day tickets), the Masons and the Shriners. In the 1980s Betty persuaded him to participate in a Back to Band summer program and take up the trombone he had not played since his days in his college marching band. Lyle was soon a member of multiple bands that performed around the region, remaining active in them well into retirement.

In the early 2000s, after years of tests, the Mayo Clinic diagnosed Lyle with a rare neuro-degenerative disease called Stiff Man Syndrome, which gradually robbed him of his mobility and later, his life.

Lyle is survived by Betty, his wife of nearly 53 years; his children, Terri Cheney and Michael Ellingson and two brothers, Arnold and Bruce Ellingson.

Special thanks to the staff of Eventide on Eighth and of Ethos Home Care and Hospice.

Memorial donations can be made to the Red River Valley Veterans Concert Band and the Trinity Lutheran Church Caring Center.

A funeral service will be held Friday, June 15, at 10 a.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church in Moorhead. Lyle's wish was to be cremated and a visitation will be held at Hanson-Runsvold Funeral Home in Fargo on Thursday, June 14, from 5 to 7 p.m.